Mum
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: RATED FOR COARSE LANGUAGE, IMPLIED CHILD MOLESTATION AN IMPLIED SEXUAL CONTACT: Gareth suffers a loss and Tim comforts him. Should I continue this? You decide! COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

He was drinking more than he usually did; that was the first thing Tim noticed.

Gareth Keenan sat by himself at their favorite pub Chasers and was currently surrounded by empty mugs of beer, and he was working to add another to their number.

Tim frowned and he tilted his head to one side, debating whether or not he should walk over and try to talk to him.

He decided that it wasn't worth it at the moment to try and walk over and instead he nursed his own bottle as he tried to figure out what could be the matter with him.

…

Gareth had come into the work as his usual stupid wanker self and for the most part he was all right, until he got a phone call.

"Hello. Gareth Keenan?"

Tim had been working at his desk, typing at his computer when he noticed the change on Gareth's face. He looked up, keeping his hands on the keyboard to look like he was doing something.

Gareth's face fell and Tim noticed almost a kind of panic as he sat up and tried to turn his face away so that he couldn't hear him.

"When did she..? And da' was with her? But I thought we said that he…He forced his way in? Feck…"

Gareth had gotten up then and went into one of the back rooms and he did not come out until it was time to leave.

As he passed by, Tim thought that his eyes looked red and watery from crying.

…

Tim shook his head slowly and he looked back at Gareth.

The frail looking man had just finished off his twelfth mug of beer and slowly was trying to force himself onto his feet to get another.

Shaking his head, Tim looked up at the ceiling for the moment asking for help from above before he then walked over and rested a hand on his arm, pushing him back down into his chair.

"What the..?"

"I think you've had enough for tonight, mate." Tim said, sitting down beside him to make sure that he couldn't get back up.

Gareth made a face but he said nothing, mumbling as he folded his arms on the table and then pressed his forehead against them.

Tim looked down at him and he sighed as he shook his head.

"What's the matter mate?" he asked.

"…"

Tim shrugged then and he took a sip from his own bottle as he waited to see if Gareth would tell him what was wrong.

"…Feck off."

That was it.

Tim frowned and he angrily slammed a hand down on the table, making Gareth's mugs jump a little as he got up.

Blinking owlishly Gareth looked up in faint surprise.

"I give up, Gareth! I was just trying to be a friend and find out what's the matter! But all you want to do is be a stupid twat so you know what? Go feck yourself!"

Gareth was silent as he watched Tim storm away, heading over to be with some of the others from work who had been watching the two in curiosity.

"What was his problem?" Keith asked, indicating Gareth with a tilt of his head.

"His problem? He's a fecking son of a bitch!" Tim snapped.

That set him off.

In one fluid motion Gareth was up and charging towards Tim, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"You stupid git!" he raged, flailing his thin arms around. "Don't you ever say that about me mum! Ever! Me mum was a saint! She dealt with shite you couldn't even possibly think of! Me mum…me mum…"

His anger slowly started to subside and he began to sway on his feet as he looked down at the ground. The look on his face changed to one of sorrow and Tim felt sorry for him.

"Your mum what, Gareth?" he asked gently.

Gareth lost it then and his face crinkled up as he started to sob, clutching onto the front of Tim's shirt as he wept into his chest, his entire body trembling.

"She died!" he wailed miserably and Tim could only stand there as the frail man held onto him tightly, keeping his arms held out to show that he was not hugging Gareth.

"Gareth…" he said, but he soon fell silent. What could he possibly say to make the man feel better?

Looking around he frowned when he saw some people snickering, making limp gestures with their hands.

And then he realized that just standing there with his arms held out made it worse and awkwardly he hugged Gareth, rubbing his trembling back.

"It's ok, Gareth." He said gently, slowly soothing down the trembling as best as he could. "Just calm down, aye? I'll take you home."

Slowly Gareth controlled himself and with a sniff he slowly stood up straight, rubbing at his eyes before looking at Tim in faint surprise.

"What?" Tim shrugged a bit and set his bottle down on the table.

"It'll have to wait a bit but I will."

Gareth smiled faintly despite himself and he nodded as he let Tim sit him back down on a chair.

"Do you think you could tell me about her?" Tim asked gently. "To pass the time?"

Gareth wiped his nose with the back of his hand and slowly he nodded his head.

"I guess so." He mumbled.

Tim smiled and he leaned back, listening as Gareth talked about his mother in the most reverent of tones.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Pirate Hatter made me do it!

"She had to deal with the worst kind of shite imaginable." Gareth said softly, his elbow resting on the table as he leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand.

"What kind of shite, Gareth?" Tim asked, trying to make sure that he was talking the whole time, to try and help the lanky man get sobered up. He was still surprised that his thin frame had been able to handle twelve mugs of beer without passing out at this point.

"Me da'…He was such a fecking bastard." Gareth said, looking away as he thought about the big brooding monster of his childhood.

"When you were little, did you ever have a fear of a monster? Like in the closet or under the bed?" he asked suddenly.

"My monster lived in the loo." Tim admitted with a soft laugh.

"My monster was me da'." Gareth said softly, staring down at the ground. "He used to beat me with a belt all the time. 'You need to be strong like I am! Join the army and become strong, you fecking little bitch!'" he quoted suddenly, his face becoming one filled with hate.

Tim saw this change and he vaguely noted that this was probably the reason why Gareth had joined the Territorial Army in the first place and bragged about it every chance that he got.

"But me mum…She was an angel she was." Gareth said as his face softened down once more, looking more tired than anything else. "She took care of me more than me da' and sometimes she would sneak in and sleep with me at night after one of his drunken rages.

"She was a strong woman. My father always tried to break her by beating her harder than I think he beat me, but she always refused to cry out like I did."

"Did you two ever leave him?"

"Hmm?" Gareth cocked an eyebrow and looked up at Tim.

"You and your mum…Did you ever leave your da'?" Gareth laughed softly and shook his head.

"Of course not!" he said. "If we had done that then he would have found us and killed us. No, we dealt with him until I was old enough to leave and join the army. I sent me mum my paychecks and it was then that she finally left him to go and live with me aunty."

Tim hesitated for a moment but he soon decided to ask, clearing his throat as he straightened up a little.

"Gareth, at work today…You were on the phone and…" Gareth frowned slightly at this revelation.

"You were listening in on me?" he asked sharply.

"Gareth…" He let out a sigh and lost his anger at once, scratching the back of his head.

"Suppose I was a little loud." Gareth mumbled.

"Your da' forced his way to her?" Tim asked. Gareth nodded sadly, clicking his teeth together for a moment.

"Me mum got the woman's disease. It was eating away at her in the hospital. Me aunty was the one who called and she said that me da' barged in like a monster, demanding to see her.

"He wasn't supposed to be allowed near her, but he forced his way in, and as soon as me mum heard him…her vitals started to go crazy and…she died."

Gareth's shoulders slumped then as he shook his head and slowly his face started to crinkle once more as he tried to fight back tears.

"It's all right." Tim said gently, rubbing his arm. "Cry it out, lad."

With his elbows on his knees, Gareth leaned forward and he wept into his hands, his thin shoulders trembling.

Tim reached over and rubbed his back, giving it a good pat before he then merely kept his hand there for comfort as Gareth had a second good cry about the whole thing.

Slowly his crying subsided and he sniffed as he slowly sat up, wiping at his eyes.

"Can you drive me home now?" he asked, his voice starting to crack from all of the crying he had been doing.

With a smile Tim nodded and he got up, helping Gareth to his feet.

"If I drive you home, I'll probably have to crash there." He admitted with a shrug as they headed outside.

"You can use me couch if you want." Gareth offered to him. Tim nodded to this and he opened the passenger side door for him, helping him get inside before he then shut it and got inside himself.

A turn of the key turned the car on and soon the two of them were heading to Gareth's home for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

They drove in silence, which was fine with Tim. It wasn't that he wasn't used to comforting people when they were upset about something, God knew how many times he was forced to comfort Dawn after that stupid git Lee made her cry, but the fact that it was Gareth made it harder for him in a way.

He was used to Gareth being an arrogant and insensitive asshole, not as being an actual human being with real emotions and weaknesses.

At a red light he chanced a look over at him and he was vaguely surprised to see that the man was sleeping; his head tilted slightly upwards as his narrow chest rose and fell gently. His face seemed gentler when was it was completely relaxed and Tim felt that he was looking at a completely different person.

A person that was…less haunted really.

A blaring horn startled the man from his slumber and Tim quickly looked away and hit the gas as he realized that the light had been green for a while now.

"What was that?" Gareth mumbled, looking over his shoulder sleepily.

"Nothing, mate." Tim said.

"Are you almost there?" Gareth asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly. "I told you where to go right?"

"You told me." Gareth nodded slightly and he then sighed as he yawned and then slowly leaned back in his seat, his eyes half-closed as he tilted his head slightly upwards, the lights from the signs playing across his face.

A few minutes later and Tim had pulled over at the apartment building and he looked over at Gareth with a smile.

"Here we are!" he announced.

Gareth softly yawned and he stretched out his arms, making the joints pop before he then fumbled with the door handle before finally figuring out how to open it.

"Do you need any help there?" Tim snickered.

Gareth glared at him before he finally opened the door and he stumbled out of the car, leaning heavily on the door before Tim came around and shut it, wrapping an arm around Gareth's middle to help him get steady.

"What room number?" he asked. Gareth looked at him groggily as if he had asked him if he had two heads but he soon figured it out and he dug into his pocket and took out the key.

"This one." He answered simply before he realized that Tim had his arm around his middle.

"Fecking bender!" he muttered and tried to push him off, making himself fall to the ground with a soft cry of pain.

Tim rolled his eyes and shook his head as he once more helped Gareth onto his feet.

"I'm trying to help you walk, Gareth." He explained to him calmly. "Come on now."

Gareth mumbled darkly but he soon relented and allowed Tim to lead him into the building and up the stairs to his room.

"I'm not a bender…" he softly protested and Tim looked at him in confusion as he shook his head and started to unlock the door.

"No one said that you were, Gareth." He assured him.

"Good." Gareth nodded. "Because you'd be a fecking liar if you did!"

"Of course I would." Tim agreed, pushing the door open with one shoulder as he kept Gareth steady.

"I'm not a bender! I'm not!" Gareth repeated.

When he looked into his room, he was a bit surprise at how empty it was. With the way that Gareth often spoke about himself, Tim almost expected the man to have the latest of everything.

Gareth's home only held three rooms in it; the living room, which also had a small kitchen on one side, a bedroom, and the water closet.

The living room only held within it an old sagging couch that sat in front of an old television set that Tim realized only showed the programs in black and white and a small table rested next to the table with a simple lamp.

His walls were all bare except for one picture of a smiling older woman. Gareth stared at this picture and Tim felt him tense up as he fought back tears again.

"Is that your mum?" he asked. Gareth could only nod and Tim looked back at the picture.

"You look a lot like her." He noted. She looked to be a woman in her early fifties, smiling happily into the camera with soft blonde hair and eyes the same shade of blue as Gareth's. He had also been given her pronounced cheekbones and pale complexion.

"Me da' hated that." Gareth mumbled softly. Tim frowned slightly at this revelation and he cocked an eyebrow as he looked over at Gareth.

"Why?" Gareth shrugged.

"He used to say that I looked like a fecking bender with me feminine looks all the time." He explained. "But I'm not a bender!" he added darkly, narrowing his eyes as if daring Tim to say otherwise.

Tim wanted to ask Gareth why he was so afraid of being called a homosexual but he closed his mouth and merely led him towards his small hallway.

"Which door?"

"First one."

Tim stared in confusion at Gareth's bedroom. It was nothing but a mattress with a blanket that had been crocheted for him years past and a small closet. There was nothing else…not even a drawer or a full bed frame for the mattress itself.

"You…sleep in here?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. When Gareth nodded he shrugged and slowly helped ease him down onto the mattress.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Gareth nodded, rubbing the back of his head before pointing at the closet. "I have a spare blanket in there if you want it." He said.

"Thanks."

"G'night." Gareth yawned and with a flop he fell onto his back on the mattress, falling asleep before his body even made contact fully.

Tim smiled and he walked over to the sleeping man, taking the blanket and then covering him with it. He then paused and thought before he then untied Gareth's shoes and then took them off for him as well.

"Silly little bugger." He murmured as he then went to the closet to get himself a blanket.

He frowned when he looked inside and he looked over his shoulder at Gareth with one arched eyebrow.

All of his clothes were neatly lined up and in order inside, but that wasn't what had caught Tim off guard; it was the amount that had confused him.

Inside he found six different colored shirts, three suits with matching trousers, and a single pair of jeans and t-shirt. His shoes consisted of a pair of work shoes and a pair of sneakers.

That was it…all the clothes that Gareth had in the world were in this one closet, with one shoe box labeled 'boxers' and the other labeled 'socks'.

Tim frowned as he looked back at this and he vaguely wondered why he had such few possessions. Shaking his head he decided to drop it and he took down the neatly folded blanket Gareth had offered to him.

This one seemed to be much warmer than the one that Gareth himself was using, but Tim did not have to think about it too long before he figured that perhaps his mother had made it for him, and that was why he preferred to use that one.

He went back into the living room and with a soft yawn he took off his shoes before he then laid down on the couch, wincing a bit at how uncomfortable it felt against his back.

Tim stared up at the ceiling and as his own mind slowly started to drift off, he vaguely wondered why Gareth lived like this and for some reason the last thing his mind coherently brought up was Gareth's protests at being considered gay.


	4. Chapter 4

Tim was woken up by a loud whistling sound and he sat up with a soft shout, looking around in confusion before he then slowly remembered where he was.

He looked over at the kitchen and found Gareth taking a small tea kettle from the stove.

"Tea?"

Tim blinked in slight confusion before he then nodded and struggled to his feet.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"An hour and a half before work." Gareth said as he added some crushed tea leaves to two small ceramic tea cups. They were hand painted with the designs of birds in trees on them; a different bird and tree for each cup.

"Nice cups." Tim noted as Gareth poured the hot water. The kettle itself was painted with one large tree, filled with various different birds in it.

"Me mum and I once went on holiday together." Gareth explained as he added a spoonful of honey to his own cup. "We painted these together."

"You painted these?" Tim asked in surprise, taking a moment to look over his cup and at the amazing detail it had on the cardinal resting in the branches of an oak tree.

Gareth nodded with a small smile as he took a sip from his cup before he then looked over at Tim with a stern glare.

"That doesn't make me a bender!" he added. "It just means I like to paint all right?"

"Gareth…why are you so worried about people thinking you're a homosexual?" Tim asked. Gareth only shook his head and he went back to drinking his tea; adding some more hot water and honey.

"I can drop you off at Chasers to get your car so that you can go home and change for work." He said.

"Are you coming in?" Tim asked. Gareth nodded and Tim frowned a bit at this.

"Why? Gareth, you can take a day off you know."

"I know." Gareth agreed. "The wake is going to be held tomorrow so I'm just going in today so that I can at least get as much money as I can."

"Gareth, why is your home so…" Tim hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should say it or not.

"Bare?" Gareth finished with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes…"

"I used to send most of me money to me mum to try and pay for her hospital bills." Gareth explained. "I don't really need that much to live on." He added with a shrug.

So that was why he was so damned skinny all the time.

Gareth stared into his empty cup for a moment and with one long finger he poked around at the tea leaves, narrowing his eyes slightly as he read them to himself.

"Tim?" he ventured.

"Yes, Gareth?"

"Would you…" He stopped then, biting his lower lip.

"What is it, Gareth?" Tim asked. "You can ask me anything." He promised.

Closing his eyes, Gareth took a deep breath before he then looked at Tim.

"Tomorrow…will you come with me to the wake?" he asked.

Tim frowned slightly in confusion, slightly caught off guard by the sudden request.

"Never mind." Gareth mumbled, looking back down at his tea leaves.

"No, it's not that!" Tim said quickly. "It's just…why me?"

Gareth shrugged his bony shoulders before he then looked over at him and gave a weak smile.

"Me mum…she always told me that she wanted to meet some of me mates." He explained softly. "And…I can't show her the Oggmonster or Jimmy the perv so…I thought that…Maybe…"

"Sure." Gareth smiled and for the first time Tim realized that this smile was genuine for once.

"I'll go and get dressed before taking you to your car." He said. "Are you done?" he asked. Tim nodded and handed over his cup and Gareth took them and put them into the sink, placing each cup in a different corner.

Tim noted this with an arched eyebrow but he said nothing as Gareth left him once again to go and get dressed.

A feeling of guilt hit him then and he sighed sadly as he sat down on the couch and put his shoes back on.

All of the things he had put Gareth through…seemed like they had all just happened recently and Tim's cheeks burned with guilt. He vaguely thought to himself that if he could, he would go back and stop himself from doing them and maybe if he hadn't been such an asshole towards him; he and Gareth wouldn't have been at odds for as long as they had been.

Soon enough Gareth came back, wearing his usual gray suit and trousers with his polished shoes.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

They drove on in silence for a while, until they stopped at Chasers' parking lot.

"Tim?"

"Yes, Gareth?"

"How many people from work…" he hesitated for a moment, biting his lower lip.

"Saw you crying?" Tim finished.

"Yes."

"Just the usual group, Gareth." Tim said with a shrug.

"Oh." Gareth looked at his steering wheel then, his shoulders slumping as he thought about how work would be today.

Tim frowned slightly as he tried to think what was wrong, but when he finally understood he nodded a bit as he placed a hand on Gareth's shoulder.

"Hey, if anyone tries to make fun of you…I'll break their nose for you, mate." He promised him. Gareth blushed and he nodded, giving Tim another one of his genuine smiles as he got out and headed for his own car.

"See you at work." Tim said with a wave.

"See you!" Gareth nodded before he then drove off to work.


	5. Chapter 5

When Tim came into work he was surprised to find that it was completely silent.

Frowning, he looked around and saw that Gareth was not at his desk.

"What the..?"

That was when he saw what was on Gareth's desk and he realized why he wasn't there working his heart out.

There was a bottle on his desk.

A baby bottle.

With his nostrils flaring, Tim stormed over and he snatched up the bottle and walked over to Dawn; knowing that she would tell the truth.

"Who did this to him?" he asked, trying his best to control his anger. "His mum died! The man has every right to cry over that! His mum died from breast cancer for God's sake!"

Dawn looked at him sadly and she looked around for a moment before leaning forward to whisper into his ear.

"It was that fecking bastard Chris Finch." She said softly. "Gareth had asked him the price of something when he suddenly put the bottle on his desk and asked if he wanted to have a suck on that or…"

She looked away then, a disgusted look passing her face.

Tim's anger flared up again and he narrowed his eyes.

"Or?" he prompted.

"Or his pecker."

Tim swore loudly and he suddenly turned and kicked a hole into one of the walls.

"And I suppose everyone laughed?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"You know I wouldn't laugh about something like that. I heard Gareth say that his mum was dead." Dawn defended.

"What happened then?"

"I told David what happened."

Tim swore once more.

"What did that stupid git do?"

"He told Finch that he would have also given Gareth a bib and some baby food to go with the bottle."

Tim held the bottle so tightly that it broke.

"Where's Gareth now?" he asked softly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"He's in the loo." Dawn said. "He even printed out a sign to tape onto it."

"Thanks. Tell that feck David that I quit." He added. "And that he had better hope I don't talk Gareth into not only quitting, but also suing his stupid fat arse!"

"Got it." Dawn nodded.

Tim nodded and with a determined look on his face, he headed for the water closet to try and comfort Gareth.


	6. Chapter 6

The sign on the door said "Stay away! Crying in process" and for a moment Tim was forced to bite back a laugh at Gareth's ability to try so hard to be serious and yet fail at the same time.

He paused before he then knocked lightly on the door.

"Go 'way…" Gareth mumbled from inside.

"Gareth…" Tim sighed, pressing his forehead against the door and shutting his eyes. "Open the door, Gareth!"

There was a brief moment of silence before Tim then heard a soft click of the lock being undone and he opened the door slowly, and he found himself looking at a wreck of a man.

Gareth's eyes had a haunted look in them again and tears were still streaming down his narrow cheeks, making small stains on his suit.

"Gareth…"

His face suddenly crinkled up and for a moment Tim remembered when he had gone to his grandfather's funeral and how his father's face had crinkled up the same way when the man had fought hard not to cry aloud.

Sounds came from Gareth's throat then and Tim couldn't help but stare at him in slight horror before he then shook himself out of it.

"Gareth, relax." He urged him gently, hugging onto him and rubbing his back. He winced at the sounds coming from Gareth's throat and he vaguely thought that if he ever saw a cat being strangled that it would sound exactly like Gareth right now.

The sound soon started to sound strangled and Gareth suddenly started to choke and cough badly.

"Breathe!" Tim shouted at him suddenly. "Breathe, damn it!"

Gareth slowly sat up straight and he closed his eyes and tilted his head back a bit, his nostrils flaring as he took in a shuddering breath.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes…"

"Good." Tim patted his arm and he gave him a small smile. "I don't suppose that I can talk you into leaving?"

"I…I have to work." Gareth said softly. "I need this job and the money."

"Well I just quit so I won't be able to stay with you today."

For a moment Tim thought that he actually saw a sad look on Gareth's face when he was told this, but the man was quick to hide it again behind a mask.

"I…I think I'll be all right." He said, staring down at the ground.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…"

Tim nodded and he then smiled as he lightly brushed away some of the tears still on Gareth's suit before he then smiled up at the man, wiping away his tears with a thumb.

"Bender…" Gareth muttered, pulling his face away. This time however, he was smiling as he said it.

"When you get home just give me a ring, yeah?" Tim said. "I'll take you out for dinner."

Gareth frowned at this, cocking an eyebrow.

"Why would you take me out to dinner?" he asked. "I'm not a bender and I swear to God…"

"Gareth…" Tim sighed and he decided to just let it drop for now. It really was odd how the man insisted on proclaiming that he was not under any circumstances a homosexual.

"I'm just taking you to a local sushi bar." He explained. "Just as a friend who wants to help another friend out, aye?"

Gareth looked away as he thought about this and he then smiled and nodded.

"All right." He agreed.

"You just need to promise me one thing." Gareth frowned warily at this.

"What's that?" he asked.

"If Finch tries to mess with you again…kick his arse, yeah?"

Gareth laughed and Tim felt comfortably leaving him alone at the office, leading the man back to his desk with his arm around his shoulders.

"Mr. Canterbury! What's this I hear of you quitting?" David suddenly demanded as he walked out of his office.

"Go feck yourself." Tim suddenly snapped and before David could fully register what had happened Tim gave Gareth a reassuring smile before he then took his suitcase and left.

Gareth smiled slightly as he watched him go and he ignored David's confused protests at being cursed at as he sat back down and went back to work.


	7. Chapter 7

His cell phone rested on the counter and Gareth found himself staring at it, lightly chewing on a thumbnail as he debated about what he should do next.

Work had been awkward for the rest of the day and he wasn't even able to finish what he was supposed to since David had called him into his office and spent the whole day telling him that if he quit like Tim had, he would not be able to collect his paycheck for the days he had worked so for.

Gareth had sworn to David that he would never leave this company and it wasn't until it was time to leave that David finally let him go home.

Now he was staring at his cell phone and wondering whether or not he should call up Tim and ask him to pick him up for dinner.

One part of him wanted to trust that Tim only wanted to be a friend, but then he would remember all of the messed up pranks Tim had played on him and the hand that would be holding the phone would let it drop onto the counter again and once more the argument in his head began.

On one hand, Tim had been the only one to sit down and listen to him when he needed someone to talk to.

But then again…he was the one constantly putting his stapler in jelly! And then he threw it out the window!

Tim had driven him home when he knew that no one else there would have even offered.

Tim had wasted a lot of his cell's minutes by calling him just to call him a cock and then hang up!

Tim had been there when Gareth had really needed someone to talk to about his mother and his father and he had promised to come to the wake with him.

This was the same bastard who had made fun of him with those overt gay references…

Gareth shut his eyes when he remembered that and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Could you…deal a man a lethal…blow?"

"If I was forced to, yeah."

"What if he was coming, really hard?"

"Ok…You've dug your foxhole and pitched your tent…They've spotted your camp and you're caught with your trousers down and they've entered your hole!"

"Shut up!" Gareth suddenly screamed against the memories, pressing his fists hard against his temples as he shut his eyes tightly.

He had finally figured out what Tim had really been saying hours later and afterwards he had run into the bathroom and vomited as his stomach started to hurt.

He was not a homophobe; Gareth was constantly being forced to defend himself against that accusation against him. He didn't hate homosexual people for being homosexual.

For a moment Gareth thought that he felt large hands running down his back and his stomach and he flinched and cried out; despite the fact that he was all alone.

"This is insane." He muttered softly, holding his head in his hands. Slowly he opened his hands and he looked down at the cell phone once more.

His stomach started to growl.

Once more he went over everything and he then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, picking up the phone and starting to dial Tim's number.


	8. Chapter 8

When Tim pulled up, he found Gareth waiting for him outside.

He was dressed in the same jeans and t-shirt as he had been yesterday and when Tim thought about it, he realized that Gareth always wore jeans and that t-shirt after work.

Gareth slid into the passenger seat, giving Tim a weak smile. He was still shaken up after his little mental battle and Tim noted that the rings around his eyes were darker.

"How did work go?" he asked as he pulled out.

"David said that if I quit I would be a stupid twat and not get paid for the days I worked since last pay day." Gareth sighed.

"What a fecking arsehole!" Tim growled. Gareth shrugged and rested his head against the door window.

"I suppose…"

"Suppose?! Gareth, he can't do that to you!" Tim argued.

"He can."

"Gareth…" Tim sighed but he fell silent and just drove on.

There was a few minutes of silence when Gareth suddenly turned to Tim with a strange smile on his thin lips.

"What's your sign?"

"What?"

"Your astrological sign." Gareth explained. Tim cocked an eyebrow at the strange question but he soon shrugged and gave in.

"Libra."

"I knew it." Gareth said with a smile.

"Knew what?" Tim asked.

"What your sign was." Gareth said with a smile and a shrug. "It was obvious really."

Tim couldn't help but laugh at how proud Gareth was and he shook his head.

"I didn't take you for someone who believed that sort of rubbish!"

"It's not rubbish!" Gareth said defensively. "It's all true! Me mum's friend Kath is an expert and she taught me all about it!"

"And I suppose you read tea leaves too?" Gareth looked at him in surprise and Tim burst out laughing.

"Are you serious?!" Gareth's cheeks burned a faint pink color and Tim cursed himself mentally as Gareth went back to looking out the window in silence.

Tim decided to keep quiet then as he pulled up in front of the sushi bar and he parked away from the rest of the cars.

"Have you ever been here?" he asked as they stepped outside.

"No."

"You'll love it." Tim promised. "Rachel and I come here all the time."

Gareth looked up at the place for a moment, his hands in his pockets as he tilted his head slightly to one side.

"It looks nice." He said finally and Tim smiled as he placed an arm around his shoulder and led him inside.


	9. Chapter 9

The smell of spice hit his nose first and Gareth was forced to turn his head away as he sneezed rapidly three times, shaking his head after each sneeze.

"You all right there?" Tim asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Gareth nodded. "Spices just hit me nose wrong is all."

He looked around for a moment at the small restaurant, cocking an eyebrow as he looked back over at Tim.

"Small."

"It has the best sushi around." Tim promised him as a waitress dressed in a floral kimono led them over to a booth.

"We're both going to have hot sake." Tim told her and she nodded and made a slight bow before leaving them with the menus.

"Sake?" Gareth asked.

"Rice wine." Tim explained. "It tastes great when it's hot."

Gareth nodded slightly and he then looked down at his menu, frowning slightly.

"I'm not sure what I should get." He admitted softly.

"Try one of the box sets."

"Box set?"

"It's like a sampling of different kinds of sushi." Tim explained. Gareth nodded and he looked back down at the menu before nodding to himself as he made his choice.

"So when should I pick you up for the wake tomorrow?" Tim asked, setting his own menu down.

"It starts at nine in the morning." Gareth said softly. "Can you pick me up at eight so that I can get there early?" he asked.

"Course I can, mate." Tim said with a nod as the waitress came back with the cups of hot sake. "I don't have to worry about work now do I?" he asked with a smile and a wink.

"I still don't understand why you did that." Gareth mumbled, looking down at the table as his cheeks burned.

Tim was about to answer when he remembered the waitress and he smiled at her.

"I'm going to have box set number three. What are you having, Gareth?" he asked.

"Box set five, please." Gareth told the waitress shyly. She nodded and took the menus back before leaving them once more.

Gareth hesitated for a moment and he then slowly picked up his small cup of sake and he gave it a tentative sniff before he wrinkled his nose and set it down again.

"It smells…spicy." He noted. Tim nodded and smiled as he downed his own drink in one easy gulp.

"That's what makes it good." He assured him. "Go on, try it."

Gareth looked down into his cup before he then set it aside.

"Why did you take me out tonight?" he asked.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Tim asked with a soft laugh.

"Well…Only a week ago you were being a right arse to me at work so…"

"Well so were you." Tim pointed out, and he couldn't help but snort softly at the indignant look Gareth gave him at this.

"I guess after seeing your home…"

Tim winced right away as Gareth looked furious at this.

"You think that I'm a charity case then?" Gareth demanded, getting to his feet right away at the supposed insult. "Well I'm not and I don't…"

"Oh just shut up and sit down." Tim laughed. "I'm not doing this just out of charity! I'm also doing it to make you fecking eat something for once! You're too damned skinny you know."

Gareth hesitated, one hand still resting on the back of the chair. He was mentally weighing something out when he finally nodded and then sat back down with a sigh.

"I know…" he admitted. "Me mum always told me that I needed to eat more. But…"

"But what?" Tim asked, looking a bit concerned at the look on Gareth's face.

"Me da'…"

Tim sighed inwardly.

"He used to ram food down me throat until I started to choke. He said that he was trying to make me build up some muscle." Gareth said. "I suppose that's why I don't eat so much…"

Tim could only look at him a bit sadly as their plates of food were brought over to them.

Without a word Gareth took a hold of his cup of sake and he downed it, wincing slightly as it burned all the way down.

"Another, please?" he asked the waitress.

"Bring us a bottle." Tim offered.

They ate in silence then, Gareth's thin fingers picking up the chopsticks and easily picking up the pieces of sushi on his plate.

Tim took a moment to watch how the man ate and for a brief moment he found himself staring at his lips.

Gareth's lips were full like a woman's and for some reason they were currently sharing the same shade of color as the black rings around his eyes. They opened up slightly to let the sushi slide into his mouth before they then closed again, allowing his teeth to do the rest of the work.

Gareth looked up and those lips frowned and Tim realized that he had been staring at them.

Gareth snorted and shook his head as he took another shot of sake.

"Bender…" he muttered.

That woke Tim out of it and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was going to get down to the bottom of that, one way or another.

"Why are you so afraid of people thinking that you're a homosexual?" he demanded.

"What? Who says that I am?" Gareth asked in faint anger.

"Gareth! Just answer the bloody question!" Tim said through gritted teeth.

Gareth's angry expression changed to one of sadness and he lightly poked at a piece of monkfish with his chopsticks.

"I…I don't really want to talk about it." He mumbled.

Tim opened his mouth to push the issue when Gareth suddenly looked up at him with pleading eyes and almost haunted eyes.

"Please don't ask me again, ok?" he asked. "I…I'm having fun right now with you and I don't want you to spoil it." He mumbled.

Tim shut his mouth and raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, but he soon nodded and shrugged as he leaned back.

"All right." He agreed.

They finished the bottle of sake together; Gareth drinking more of it than Tim since he was their driver.

"I've been meaning to ask you something." Tim said as they walked back to his car.

"Shoot."

"How come you never get a hangover?"

"Hmm?" Gareth cocked an eyebrow and laughed softly.

"You drink a lot but I've never really seen you that affected by it!" Tim explained. "It's just weird really." Gareth snorted softly as he got into the passenger seat and he then shrugged.

"I don't believe in hangovers." He said matter-of-factly. "That's why I never get them you see."

Tim looked at him and when he saw how serious Gareth was, he could only laugh and shake his head as he started to drive.

"You're crazy."

"I suppose." Gareth agreed and this caused the both of them to laugh together.

Giggling,(yes, Gareth was giggling), Gareth shook his head as Tim stopped in front of his apartment and then an idea suddenly came to him.

"Tim? Why don't you come up for a cup of tea?" he asked.

"Eh?" Tim cocked an eyebrow slightly and Gareth smiled at him.

"I can read the tea leaves for you." He explained.

Tim snorted out a laugh for a moment before he then shook his head and shrugged as he turned his car off.

"Why not?" he asked and he was soon following after Gareth to get his tea leaves read.


	10. Chapter 10

Gareth was humming softly to himself as he poured some water into the kettle before placing it on the stove to heat up, and Tim couldn't help but smile.

He had to admit, seeing Gareth happy like this was enough to melt anyone's heart.

Gareth opened a cupboard for a moment and he looked over the cups.

"What are you doing?" Tim asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly.

"Trying to choose the right bird."

"The right…bird?" Gareth smiled and he nodded as he lightly rubbed his chin in thought.

"Birds have different meanings you know." He explained to Tim. He then nodded as he chose a cup with a grosbeak on it and he smiled.

"This one should suit you." He said finally. "The grosbeak heals old wounds, signifies family values, and past love's significance!"

Tim was forced to bite the inside of his cheeks to avoid laughing as Gareth set the cup down in front of him.

"You really are serious about this aren't you?" he asked. Gareth smiled and nodded as he got the tea leaves and put a spoonful of them into his cup.

"I've always believed in this kind of thing." He said simply, smiling at Tim with a wink and a shrug. "Me mum was the one who always told me about it."

"You really loved her didn't you?"

"She saved me life a lot when I was younger." Gareth said, leaning against the counter on his elbows. "If it were up to me da', I would be dead by now I think." He admitted with a shrug.

"He beat you that badly, Gareth?" Tim asked, faintly surprised that the man was not in prison for what he had done to him.

"His belt…and his hands mostly." Gareth said softly. "When he thought that I was really bad…he used to take me on holiday with him…"

"Holiday?" Tim asked, hoping that Gareth would clarify this for him.

Gareth had the feeling of phantom hands touching him again and he shuddered.

"He and his friends…"

The sudden shriek from the tea kettle saved him from explaining further and he smiled faintly as he took the kettle off of the stove and poured the hot water into the cup.

He then thought for a moment as he looked at the steam and he shuddered faintly.

"He one time used hot water." He said as he poured the rest down the sink.

"What?" Tim asked, tilting his head slightly as if he had not heard that right.

"He caught me having a little tea party with me mum and her friend Kath when I was seven and he boiled a real kettle of water and poured it down my bare back." Gareth explained, looking down at the ground.

"Jesus…" Tim muttered.

"He never stepped in to help me." Gareth said with a shrug. "No matter how many times I asked Him to."

Awkward silence fell between the two of them then as Tim slowly started to drink his cup of tea.

"What were you going to say before the kettle went off?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"You were talking about your father taking you on holiday with him and his friends."

Gareth blushed and he sat down, wringing his hands together as the phantom hands came back, getting rougher as they seemed to slide up to his inner thighs and he suddenly yelped and pressed his hands against his temples.

Tim gasped softly and he set his cup down, placing a hand on his shoulder as he tried to calm him down.

"Gareth? Gareth! Calm down! Gareth, you're in your apartment with me, Gareth! You were going to read my leaves when I was finished, aye?" he asked.

"I'm not a bender…" Gareth whimpered softly.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Tim asked gently, stroking his cheek with the back of one hand without even thinking about it. "Gareth…"

"Me dad…he always said that I was a bender what needed to be taught a lesson!" Gareth wept softly, his shaking thin hands barely covering his face.

"What would he do to you, Gareth?"

"He would take me on holiday with his mates and let them force me to do stuff with them!" Gareth said and he broke down then, crying against Tim's neck as his body started to tremble like a leaf in the wind.

Tim wrapped his arms around him and he sighed as he gently ran his fingers through his hair for a moment, rocking him back and forth.

"You know what? I think we can hold off on the tea reading for tonight." He said, pulling back for a moment so that he could look at Gareth.

"M'sorry…" Gareth said softly, looking down at the ground sadly. "I…I can do it before we go to the wake maybe…"

"Sure thing, mate." Tim nodded with a smile. "Do you think you can get to bed on your own or should I stay with you?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine." Gareth said as he shook his head and Tim nodded.

"All right. Try to get some sleep, Gareth."

"I will." Gareth nodded and Tim smiled and gave him a wave as he soon left him alone.

Gareth sighed and hesitated for a moment before he then turned to Tim's cup and poured out the contents into the sink.

He was going to scrape out the insides when he decided to look inside of it first and he frowned slightly as he read the tea leaves, tilting his head to one side curiously.

According to the leaves, Tim was going to learn about great suffering related to a friend of his.

Gareth frowned as he thought about this for a moment and his eyes slowly grew wide as he realized what it meant.

"I knew reading tea leaves wasn't daft!" He muttered softly, putting everything away before going to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

The rings around his eyes were darker than usual and his lips shared the same color again.

Tim frowned slightly as Gareth got into the car that morning, dressed in a black suit with a navy blue tie. He looked paler than usual as well, but Tim supposed that that could just be an effect from wearing so much black.

"Are you feeling all right, Gareth?" he asked.

"I'm going to me mum's wake. Am I supposed to be feeling all right?" Gareth asked.

"Gareth…"

"It's at Pine Meadow funeral home. Do you know where that is?"

"We had my great-grandmother's wake there. The people who work there are really great."

Gareth nodded to nothing in particular and he then leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Rest up, mate." Tim said softly and he pulled out and drove off. "God knows that you need sleep with those rings around your eyes."

It took Gareth a few minutes but he was soon fast asleep, lulled by the sound of nothing but Tim's driving.

He dreamt of his mother smiling down at him as she was making dinner and despite the fact that it was a dream, Gareth could swear that he smelled the blood sausage cooking.

"Hello, my little Gar-bear!" she laughed, reaching down to ruffle his soft hair for a moment.

"Mama!" he laughed, shaking his head rapidly to try and fix his hair up. "Don't mess me hair up!"

"And what is my little Gar-bear going to do if I don't?"

Gareth bared his teeth and held up his hands like claws and his mother quickly put on a frightened face as she covered it with her apron.

"Oh no! There's a wild bear on the loose!"

"Grr!"

Laughing, his mother ran away and Gareth chased after her.

He chased her around the table a few times before he then finally dove under the table and latched onto one of her legs.

"Got you!" he laughed happily.

"What the fuck is going on here?!"

The happy feeling around the room soon vanished and Gareth softly whimpered as he hid behind his mother.

"Is this what you fucking do all day while I'm out working and earning the money in this house?!" Gareth's father raged, his hand going to his belt on instinct

"Stop it!" his mother said, using her body to stand between her husband and Gareth. "The food is almost done so you don't have to worry about that!"

"And now you're fucking talking back to me?! You stupid bitch! Do I need to break the fucker's fingers again to prove me point to you?"

The picture started to melt together and as the shapes of colors moved, Gareth could vaguely make out his father throwing his mother out of the way and then grabbing onto his fingers; bending them back until they…

Gareth woke with a scream and Tim almost stepped on the gas in surprise while trying to park.

"Jesus!" he said, looking at Gareth worriedly. "What the fuck, Gareth?"

He panted softly, looking around with wide eyes.

"What?"

"We're here." Tim said, turning the car off. "What happened?" Gareth closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

His hand was starting to hurt and he whimpered as he cradled it for a moment, the memory of his father breaking his fingers still fresh in his mind.

"I had a bad dream." He said softly.


	12. Chapter 12

The funeral home was small and not as fancy as some of the larger funeral homes were, but Gareth found that he liked small ones better than the bigger ones anyway.

What was the point of getting fancy about it when all you were doing was putting a corpse in a box before burying it so that no one looks at it again?

He shuddered at the idea of his mother lying under the cold ground, rotting away to nothingness with the worms and other bugs eating away at her insides.

Tim felt the shudder and he turned to Gareth and gave him a small smile.

"It will be all right." He assured him. "I'm right here and I'm sure the rest of your family can't be bad, aye?"

The two of them were still standing outside the front doors, Gareth leaning against Tim for support as he cradled his throbbing hand to his chest.

"Why does your hand hurt?" Tim asked. Gareth could only shrug and shake his head as the pain slowly subsided and he let his arm fall back down to his side.

"I dreamt about the last time me da' broke me fingers." He said softly.

"I swear to God…If I ever meet your da' I'm going to kick his fucking ass from here to next week."

"Don't!" Gareth said, looking panicked suddenly as he held onto Tim's arm tightly.

Tim was surprised at the grip the frail looking man had, and he winced as his nails dug into the skin.

"Ow! Gareth, what the..?"

"My da' is a really big man." Gareth said softly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in real terror.

Tim looked at him and he soon gave up, gently taking Gareth's hand away from his now sore arm.

"Are you ready to go inside?" he asked.

Gareth hesitated, biting his lower lip as he looked back at the door.

"Gareth?"

"I…I'm ready." He said finally, staring down at his shoes as he said this.

Tim nodded and he patted his shoulder before opening the door.

"Come on then. I'd like to meet your mum." He coaxed him gently.

Slender fingers twisted and interlocked as Gareth fought the urge to throw up. He was about to see his mother in a wooden box, surrounded by useless flowers that would be the shapes of crosses and hearts and Gareth knew that no matter what he said, he would never be ready for that.

He looked over at Tim for a moment and he felt some comfort from the man being with him.

He took a step forward and was soon inside and he hugged himself as he looked around and felt his chest start to tighten as one of the men who worked here walked over, smiling at the two of them.

Gareth wanted to demand what he was smiling about, but he just bit his tongue and looked to the side, staring at a painting of a pirate ship being attacked by a monster squid.

"Are you two here for Alina Keenan?"

Gareth said nothing and Tim sighed as he stepped forward, keeping an arm around his friend's thin shoulders.

"We are." He said. "This is her son so…"

"Oh of course! Little Gareth!" the man said with a smile and a clap of his hands.

Gareth only snorted, turning to give him a hostile glare that Tim did not really understand.

"Where's me mum?" he asked.

"She's in the first room on the right." He said. "But…I do need to talk to you about payment." He added, stepping back into their path when they started to walk.

Gareth glared at him and Tim got ready to step in.

"Me mum died because your mate Brock broke the order of protection and killed her!" Gareth snarled and Tim looked at the new man with raised eyebrows.

"Did you think I would forget about what you did to me, Lance?" Gareth added, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "You always liked me hands remember?"

"I…I have no idea what you're…"

"Of course you do!" Gareth snapped. "You always made me jerk you off when da' made me go on holiday with you and the other perverted lads!"

Lance opened and closed his mouth several times, shaking his head as he looked to Tim.

"He always had such a wild imagination when he was younger…"

"I remember everything just fine!" Gareth snapped, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Now…ask me again about payment!"

The man stepped aside and Tim looked over his shoulder as he followed after Gareth.

"Me da' used to be in the army." Gareth explained softly, shrinking back to his usual twitchy and scared self once they were out of view. "He then became a cop and he made a lot of friends…"

"That's one of the guys who..?"

"He didn't bugger me or anything." Gareth said. "He would just talk about me hands a lot and make me use them on him."

"Jesus…"

The door to the room that held his mother was closed and Gareth stared at it helplessly and a faint noise came from his throat that made Tim wince.

"Gareth…"

The noise grew louder and Gareth soon disappeared into the bathroom.

There was a part of him that wanted to be annoyed with Gareth for being this emotional, but Tim would soon feel guilty and blush a bit.

If it had been him and his mother, he doubted that he would be in good shape either.

He waited for a moment before he then opened the door and went into the bathroom after him and he found Gareth stooped over the full sink of water, his face currently submerged.

"Gareth, are you trying to drown yourself?" he asked, half kidding and half being very serious.

He lifted his head slowly, blowing water out of his nose and mouth before turning to look at Tim.

"The last time I saw her, she was alive and smiling." He said. "She was pale and a bit too thin from the cancer but at least she was smiling and happy to be alive. I'm not sure if I can handle seeing her…dead like that, you know?"

Without thinking it all the way through, Tim walked up to Gareth and he rested a hand on his back. He then slowly leaned forward, his face inches away from Gareth's as he gave him another one of his patented comfort smiles.

"I know that it must be hard for you." He said, his hand lightly stroking Gareth's back. "I can't even imagine the pain you're going through right now. All I can do is stand here and try to give you some comfort."

Gareth stared at him in silence and for the first time Tim realized that Gareth's eyes were not as dark as he had original thought that they were.

They were a shade of blue that almost pierced into his head as he looked and before he knew it, Tim found himself closing the gap between the two and Gareth closed those beautiful blue eyes and bowed his head as Tim kissed wet brow.

After a few moments of silence, Tim's eyes snapped open when he realized what he had just done and he leapt back, leaning on the sink to keep his balance.

"Shite! I'm sorry! Gareth…" he fumbled.

Gareth did not seem so very upset or offended by the kiss however as he slowly opened his eyes and Tim thought that he caught a flicker of a smile cross those thin gray lips.

Those thin, gray, and very kissable lips.

"Thank you." Gareth said, draining the water from the sink. "For everything, Tim."

Tim nodded lamely, still unable to really believe what he had just done, or the fact that Gareth didn't seem at all fazed by it either!

"I'm ready to see her one last time." Gareth said, and he slowly squared his shoulders before heading out of the bathroom, followed by Tim once more.

Gareth took a hold of the handle of the door and after taking in a deep breath, he swung the door open; his brow tingling with warmth where Tim's lips had made contact.


	13. Chapter 13

The first thing that he noticed was the flowers that filled the room.

It was obvious that Kath had been the one to order all of the flowers and Gareth couldn't help but smile and stop for a moment and with one slender finger he pointed out each type of flower to Tim and translated its meaning.

"Flowering almonds means hope." He started; his voice barely above a whisper. "That small cactus is there because they represent warmth. Coreopsis represents always cheerful and that hibiscus over there represents delicate beauty."

"Flowers have a meaning?" Tim asked, arching an eyebrow.

Gareth nodded, his eyes going everywhere but the casket where his mother lay.

"Trees also mean something." He added softly, taking one look at the casket before he then looked away again.

"The wood for me mum's casket is cypress…and that stands for mourning, death, and despair."

"Damn…" Tim said softly, rubbing the back of his head slightly. "That…That's pretty heavy, Gareth."

Gareth nodded, looking down at the ground as he shrugged.

"S'true though." He said. "Kath told me so."

Tim nodded and he then walked up and tapped his arm lightly.

"You ready to see her?" he asked, all ready walking towards her.

Gareth said nothing, looking down at the ground as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

Tim shrugged and he was soon looking down at the casket and he crossed himself as he shook his head for a moment.

The woman lying in the casket and the woman in Gareth's picture were two completely different people almost. The cancer had taken its toll on her body and she was thinner and paler than she had been in the picture; despite the makeup put on her corpse to try and make her look healthier. Despite all of this, Tim could still see where Gareth had gotten most of his looks from.

A tear hit the back of his hand and Tim blinked and put a hand to his own face before he then realized that it wasn't from his own eyes.

Gareth stood next to him, his face blank as he looked down at his mother. Silent tears rolled down his narrow cheeks, landing with soft plops onto the basket and Tim's hand.

"Hello, mum." He whispered softly, slowly reaching out to lightly touch her hair. "I…I'm sorry that I couldn't have been there to stop da'…"

He was forced to fall silent as his throat tightened and he choked softly before wiping away his tears with his sleeve, giving her a small smile as he wrapped an arm around Tim's middle, ignoring the man's stiffening up at this intimate contact.

"This is me mate Tim, mum!" he said with a smile. "He used to work with me back at the office. He sometimes is a right twat but..." He turned to look at him, giving Tim a warm smile. "He's a good friend."

Tim's cheeks started to burn and he coughed as slowly he maneuvered so that he was out of Gareth's hands, adjusting his tie as he cleared his throat.

Gareth did not notice this however as he slowly removed his hand from his mother's hair and leaned forward, kissing her cold forehead before pulling back and crossing himself, sighing as he turned to Tim.

"Now we just have to wait for me family to arrive." He said and Tim noticed a complete change in the way that Gareth held himself.

His eyes seemed to hold some kind of resolve in them as Gareth reached out and took Tim's hand.

"Come with me to the back? I want to talk to you in private." He said, looking over at his mother for a moment to show that he did not feel his mother's body meant privacy.

Tim looked down at their hands for a moment before he then slowly nodded, following after Gareth numbly.

What on earth had gotten into him anyway?


	14. Chapter 14

There was a small back porch behind the building and this is where Gareth dragged Tim, an odd smile on his lips.

Tim was still confused about his sudden odd behavior and once they were outside, he shook his head and finally was able to pull his hand away.

"Gareth, what are you..?"

Gareth whirled around, and Tim found himself with his back up against the wall.

"Do you fancy me?" Gareth asked softly, tilting his head to one side.

"Wait…what?!"

"Do…You…Fancy…Me?" Gareth said, emphasizing each word with a light poke to Tim's chest.

"Gareth, if this is about that snog in the bathroom, it wasn't a real snog so…"

"Then why did you kiss me forehead at all?" Gareth asked simply.

Tim was forced to think about that one and his cheeks burned a bright shade of red when he looked into Gareth's blue eyes again.

Those eyes….damn! Those eyes could make a man do anything that Gareth wanted them to.

Or didn't, as was the case with his father and his friends.

His mouth dried up and he shut it with a faint clicking of teeth and Gareth smiled slowly, his lip's color coming back to the cherry red that it was when he was feeling better.

"Would you like me to snog you?" he offered softly. "To see if you like it?"

"Gareth! I'm not into that! I'm into…"

Gareth's lips were on his before he could finish that thought and Tim found himself standing there helplessly, his eyes wide open in surprise.

Slowly Gareth's hands slid up Tim's sides and before the man could push him away; those slender digits were gently touching his face, holding his head in place.

He stopped to take a shuddering breath, looking at Tim with half-closed eyes full of wanting and lust and he stopped Tim's fresh protest with his lips once more.

A soft whimper escaped from Gareth's throat and slowly he pulled back, looking at Tim with a faint smile as he rested his forehead against his.

"Don't you want to kiss me back?" he whispered softly.

Tim was still stunned from the two very amazing kisses he had just received and slowly he nodded before he realized what he had just done and he pushed Gareth away lightly, shaking his head.

"Gareth! I'm not gay!" he said simply. "You know that I have a thing for Rachel and…"

"She's a right twat that one." Gareth said, reluctantly removing his hands and keeping them behind his back to avoid touching him again. "Stupid git."

"You were the one who said that you would do her." Tim pointed out. "Hand job?" he said, putting on the same expression on his face that Gareth had had when he made the offer.

"Don't remind me." He muttered.

"I just…I don't get it, Gareth! This whole time you've said that you weren't gay and now all of a sudden you're coming on to me! Why the sudden change, Gareth? Why didn't you always act like this before? I always thought that you were a homophobe."

"I suppose that I was." Gareth admitted, looking down at the ground a bit sadly. "I was always afraid of being myself really, because of what me da' did to me… I thought that that was what gays did…that and fuck animals."

Tim snorted out a bit of laughter at that one, remembering when they had been forced to solve the problem of the farmer trying to bring three things over a river.

"Just get his wife to help." Gareth had suggested back then.

"He don't got a wife." Tim sighed, and Gareth had snorted at this.

"All farmers have wives." He had pointed out.

"Not this one; he's gay."

"Well then he shouldn't be allowed around animals now should he?"

"Yeah…that's real perverts, Gareth." Tim laughed.

A small smile touched Gareth's lips and he tilted his head to one side.

"Yeah…that was wrong." He admitted.

"And then there's how you reacted to me kissing you." Tim added.

"I rather liked that actually, but did you honestly think I was going to say so on camera?" he asked.

Tim thought about it and he then nodded slightly.

"I suppose that's why you claimed not to kiss me back? Even though I know that you did?"

A soft giggle escaped from Gareth as he nodded.

"Did you just…giggle?" Gareth covered his mouth with one hand, nodding as he slowly started to laugh.

"Yeah…" he said and slowly he controlled himself as he looked back up at Tim.

"Tim?"

"Yeah?"

He was wringing his hands again as he looked down at the ground and Tim assumed that he was about to make a request from him.

"Could you…kiss me?" he asked.

"Gareth…"

"Just one last time, yeah?" he said quickly. "To make up for when I shoved your face away?"

Rolling his eyes, Tim wanted to tell him no and end it there, but he once more found himself staring into those eyes and he clicked his teeth together softly.

"Fine! But this is the last time, all right?"

"Right." Gareth nodded.

Tim nodded to himself and he hesitated as he looked at the taller man, licking his lips slowly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss Gareth…it was the idea of what could happen afterwards that terrified him really.

But any fear he had was melted away by those watery blue eyes and Tim soon found that he was starting to kiss him.

Gareth closed his eyes and he tenderly started to kiss him back, those thin arms wrapping themselves around Tim's middle.

Soon lips were parted and their tongues became involved and a shudder of pleasure ran down Tim's spine at how easily Gareth's tongue found his, caressing it gently as it twisted around.

Tim's hands slowly ran up the back of Gareth's jacket and one found a place behind his head, digging his fingers gently into his soft blonde hair.

Gareth moaned softly and when the kiss was finished, the two stood holding each other tightly, Gareth smiling down at Tim.

"How was that?" he whispered softly.

"I'm not sure." Tim said huskily. "Maybe one more will do the trick, aye?" Gareth smiled and lightly rubbed his nose against Tim's.

"Whatever you say, master." He whispered before their lips and tongues met again.

Their emotions and lust soon got the better of them and Tim easily spun them around and it was Gareth with his back pressed up against the wall, Tim holding his arms above his head, his hands wrapping around his thin wrists easily.

"Not too fast." Gareth panted between kisses. "When we get to my place we can do more." he explained and they went back to kissing with more gusto as the promise of sex hung thickly in the air.

Gareth was in the middle of lightly nibbling Tim's bottom lip when suddenly the door swung open and when he opened his eyes, they grew wide in horror as he pulled away from Tim, the same strangled cat noise escaping his lips.

"What's wrong?" Tim asked in confusion, and when he looked, he gasped softly.

"You fucking little bummer!" Gareth's father growled and Gareth whimpered as he slowly hid behind Tim.

"Da'…"


	15. Chapter 15

Tim could not believe that the gorilla of a man standing in front of him was Gareth's father.

The only thing that Gareth had gotten from his father was his height. Other that that, there was nothing that could possibly link the two men together as father and son.

His father was the very image of a strong military man; his dark hair cut in the military style crew cut and his arms and hands looking as if he could crush a watermelon without breaking a sweat.

He also had a cruel looking face and Tim vaguely wondered how Gareth's mother could possibly marry a man like that in the first place!

"Get the fuck out of the way!" Brock growled at Tim. "I'm not in the mood to beat two benders today! Just the little fucker I raised with me own two hands!"

Tim remembered the promise that he had made to Gareth in regards to not standing up against his father, but when he felt Gareth's trembling hand hold onto his, he knew that he was not going to be able to keep it.

"Oy!"

"Leave him alone, fucktard!" Tim growled, causing Gareth to gasp softly in surprise as Brock's eyes slowly grew wide in disbelief.

"Tim…don't…" Gareth whimpered.

"You can't hurt him anymore!" Tim snarled up at Brock, ignoring Gareth as he stepped forward and narrowed his eyes angrily.

"He's your son! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he demanded. "How could you rape your own son? You're the fucking bend…"

First he saw a flash of red and then blackness as Brock's fist suddenly connected to the side of his face and Gareth cried out as Tim was thrown off of the porch and landed heavily on the ground below, senseless.

Gareth looked down at Tim in horror and was about to go to him when his father shoved him hard up against the wall, knocking the wind from him with a swift punch to his solar plexus.

Gasping for air, he fell to his knees as he hugged his chest and a moan escaped his lips as his father grabbed his hair and forced his head up to look at him.

"I always knew you were a fucking poof!" he growled dangerously. "It was obvious by how you and your mother always stuck together like fucking glue! And you liked it when me mates fucked you too! Don't think I didn't notice that! And the Territorials? They're not a real army!"

Gareth's lips trembled slightly as his chest started to tighten and hurt.

"It is…" he whispered softly. He winced as his hair was twisted painfully.

"What did you just say? Did you just talk back to me?!" his father demanded. "Do I need to show you your place again?!"

"Da'…stop it! I'm not…little anymore…" He shut his eyes tightly as his father raised his hand and the slap he was dealt banged his head against the wall, bruising his cheek as well as splitting his lip.

This was followed by three more harsh slaps to his face and soon the slapped cheek was bright red and his nose was starting to bleed.

"Don't you EVER talk to me like that again!" he snarled. "Do you understand me?!"

Gareth could feel blood dripping from his split lower lip and his nose and he slowly sucked on his lower lip, keeping his eyes shut tightly. His father shook him by his hair, making his teeth click together painfully.

"Answer me!"

Gareth spit in his face.

Slowly Brock's eyes grew wide and Gareth silently prayed to God to let him die quickly as familiar large hands wrapped themselves around his throat.

Brock lifted his son easily into the air, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes in madness and pure rage as he proceeded to try and strangle his own son to death.

Gareth's thin legs kicked out fruitlessly, not even touching the ground anymore. He held onto his father's wrists with trembling hands and he softly gagged and gasped, helpless tears falling from his eyes.

"I will not let a failure like you continue to live and make my life miserable!" Brock hissed up at him.

Slowly his legs stopped kicking out as much and his hold on his father's wrists grew weak as his vision started to get blurry.

"I should have punched your mother's stomach harder when I found out she was pregnant with you! It would have saved me the trouble of strangling you now!"

Gareth soon stopped kicking all together as his vision went black.


	16. Chapter 16

When Gareth opened his eyes, he was vaguely confused as to why his throat was still hurting.

He had always thought that when you died and went to Heaven, mortal things like pain would be a thing of the past.

For a moment he vaguely wondered if he had gone to Hell, but then he heard the screaming and the shouting and soon Tim was looking down at him, sporting a fresh fist print on his face where Gareth's father had hit him.

"Are you all right?" Tim asked, holding Gareth's head in his lap.

"What…" Gareth winced at the pain in his throat and he slowly struggled to sit up, coughing hoarsely as he watched in faint surprise as his father was being wrestled down to the ground by a combination of police and male members of his family.

"When I came to and saw him strangling you…I screamed as loud as I could and jumped on him." Tim admitted with a shrug. "That alerted the others inside to what was happening."

"I…I told…you…" Gareth struggled. "Not to…fight him!"

"He was going to kill you." Tim pointed out, and they stopped and watched as Brock was soon dragged into a cop car.

"How would that look to your mum if I let you die?" he asked. "Besides…You promised that we would have sex later today, mate!"

Gareth slowly smiled at this and he shook his head slightly as he was helped onto his feet by Tim, leaning on him as some of his family came over to see how bad the damage was to his throat.

…

The rest of the wake was uneventful and Gareth's voice healed as purple and blue bruises slowly formed around his throat.

He sat down in the front chair with Tim on his left and his grandmother on his right and he found that the only really hard part after being almost murdered was trying to explain to his grandmother what was going on.

The elderly woman had come in thinking that she was burying her oldest daughter, Gareth's aunt Susan; a smiling older woman who had pulled Tim over to the side to gently but firmly warn him that if he ever broke Gareth's heart, that she would be forced to break his pecker off and feed it to the wolves.

Gareth stood beside his grandmother with one hand resting on her back lightly as she looked down at his mother in the casket and he bit his lip lightly as she started to speak.

"Susan looks so peaceful doesn't she, Gar-bear?" she asked.

"Nana…"

"It's not right for a mother to bury her child, but at least Susan looks happy."

"Nana, that's not Susan." Gareth corrected her gently. She blinked and looked at him in confusion and he winced at the slight pang of hurt in his chest.

"Not Susan? Who is it then?"

"Nana, that's me mum."

"Alina?" she asked. "But…how?"

"She had cancer, Nana." Gareth explained. "It was eating away at her and then da' came barging into her room and was screaming at her and for some reason her body…her body finally just let her go."

"So…that's my Alina in there?" Gareth slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he saw her starting to grow upset, and he kissed the top of her head.

"Yes, Nana."

It had taken a full hour for her to stop crying.

…

After the wake, Tim waited just outside of the door, smiling as he watched Gareth saying good-bye to his family for the day. Tomorrow would be the last day of the wake and then the funeral would end it all for good.

Gareth shyly accepted condolences for the loss of his mother, as well as words of encouragement when it came to dealing with his father.

"You better not hurt him."

Blinking, Tim looked to his left and found a young man with soft blonde hair and a silver hoop in each ear standing next to him. His blue eyes were looking straight forward, but Tim realized that he was blind when he saw that the blue slowly dissolved to become paler and paler until finally his pupils looked white

"Who…"

"I'm his cousin." He answered, slowly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, tapping them against the palm of his hand.

"Hello?" Tim said lamely.

"I'm just warning you now…My cousin Gareth has been through a lot today, aye? We've all known that he was gay, but we just wanted to wait until he was comfortable with coming out with it! Especially considering who his father was!"

Tim watched in amazement as Gareth's cousin skillfully took out a single cigarette and then lit it without dropping it or burning himself.

"You're going to be his lover now, yeah?" he asked, letting smoke drift from his flaring nostrils in lazy tendrils.

"I suppose so, yes." Tim said, unable to deny it anymore.

"Then you had better not break his heart." Gareth's cousin growled. "Or me and my mates will come after you! I may be blind, but I can still kick your arse! Got it?"

"I wouldn't dream of hurting him. He's been through enough in his life."

Ferris nodded at this, taking a long drag before blowing it out into the air.

"Oy, Ferris!" Gareth laughed as he stepped outside, wrapping an arm around Tim's middle. "Are you threatening Tim all ready?"

"Of course I am." Ferris said with a shrug, finishing his cigarette before flicking it away. "You know I only have your best interest at heart!" he added with a smile.

Gareth smiled and nodded and he gave his cousin a hug, laughing softly.

"Remember when you saved me from that perverted couple?" he asked.

"How could I forget that? They had your wrists duct taped together along with your ankles in nothing but your boxers and your socks from what me mate Joey told me!" Ferris snickered. "Now run along and go get some sex all ready! God knows you need some!"

Gareth laughed and shook his head, and he then turned to Tim and shrugged.

"Me cousin Ferris is a sex fiend!" he said simply. This caused Ferris to throw his head back and laugh.

"At least I get some regularly!" he countered. Gareth snorted and shook his head and he walked with Tim towards his car.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" he called after Ferris.

"Course you will, cousin!" Ferris answered and Gareth nodded and got into Tim's car.

"I could cook for us if you want." He offered as Tim started the car and Tim looked at him in surprise.

"You can cook?"

"Course I can!"

Tim shook his head, laughing softly.

"You're full of surprises, mate."

"You're going to find out a few more by the end of the night." Gareth added, kissing his cheek tenderly.


	17. Chapter 17

Gareth certainly had a lot of surprises about him and Tim learned this not only by watching him make them a batch of freshly made scotch eggs, but also by the box that he had pulled out from under his couch and allowed him to look into, his cheeks blushing faintly as he went to go and cook before Tim opened the box.

"What the fuck?!"

Gareth winced despite himself at Tim's sudden confused outburst and he said nothing as he started to boil the eggs before getting the small deep fryer ready.

Tim looked in the box with wide eyes and slowly he took out a red rubber ball gag and he looked at Gareth with raised eyebrows.

Gareth could feel Tim's eyes on him as he wrapped the hard boiled eggs in sausage meat, but he refused to turn around until he was done with this step.

"Gareth?" Tim asked softly, slowly removing handcuffs, a paddle, rope, a blindfold, and a collar with a leash attached from the box.

"Let me finish the eggs first." Gareth said over his shoulder, hoping that Tim would agree so that he had some time to think up an excuse for his fetish.

Tim could do nothing but agree and he sighed as he looked at the objects in question.

He could see faint teeth marks on the ball and he shook his head, but the image of Gareth on his knees with it shoved into his mouth made him aroused and he blushed and coughed as he quickly put them back into the box.

When the eggs were finished, Gareth put them into a bowl and then quietly walked over, sitting down beside Tim as he held the bowl out to him, taking an egg for himself.

Tim did not say anything while they ate and Gareth found that he rather liked that. It burned a little when he swallowed, and he grimaced slightly, only eating two eggs.

Once the eggs were gone, Gareth quickly got up to clean the bowl when Tim caught him by his wrist.

"You're going to explain this." He said. Gareth looked down at the ground and hesitated before he then sat down beside him.

"Well?" Tim asked. Gareth shrugged, lightly touching the bruises on his neck as he looked at his toys currently in Tim's possession.

"I…I like being the submissive." He admitted.

"I can tell." Tim snorted softly. "I just figured that you wouldn't be into that sort of thing since…"

He shrugged a bit and started to wring his hands, afraid that Tim would want to leave now.

"I…I'm not perverted." He said helplessly. He flinched when Tim rested a hand on his cheek and he looked over at him in faint confusion before their lips met again.

They kissed deeply, Gareth's lower lip starting to hurt when it finally finished and he was vaguely surprised to find that it was bleeding a little bit again.

"Does that mean you do everything the other person tells you to do?" Tim whispered softly, his voice starting to sound husky as their lips connected again.

Gareth licked Tim's lips when they parted and he nodded.

"Of course I do." He whispered, nuzzling his neck.

Tim smiled at this and slowly his hands slid up the front of Gareth's shirt and once he found his nipples, the other man shuddered in pleasure, closing his eyes as Tim teased them into points before taking a firm hold and twisting them.

Gareth flinched and yelped softly, and he leaned forward to kiss Tim again when the man placed a few fingers on his lips.

"Take off your clothes for me first."

Gareth smiled at the order and he nodded, kissing his fingers.

"Yes, master." He purred.


	18. The End

Gareth's cell phone woke him up the next morning.

Moaning softly with his eyes still closed, Gareth reached out and felt along the floor beside his mattress before he finally found it, flipping it open.

"Gareek Kenan. Mumpf?" he said. He frowned at this and soon realized that he still had the ball gag in his mouth.

Growling in faint frustration, he took it out and he shook his head before clearing his throat once more.

"Gareth Keenan?"

"Oy, cousin! You forget to take the ball out of your mouth again then?" Ferris' laughing voice asked and Gareth rolled his eyes as he slowly leaned back against the wall, noting with a slight frown that Tim wasn't with him.

"Yes, I did." He admitted with a sigh. "What is it, Ferris?"

"I was just calling to ask if the sex was good last night."

Gareth chuckled; shaking his head as memories of last night came flooding back to him.

"It was amazing. He wasn't very good at giving me orders but, he has an amazing cock."

"It got stuck up your arse didn't it?"

"Maybe…"

Ferris laughed and Gareth soon joined him, unable to help himself.

"Is that the only reason why you called?" he asked.

"Eh? Oh fuck! No! I called to tell you not to worry about your da' anymore."

Gareth frowned slightly at this.

"Why not? What did you do, Ferris?"

"Well, you know that I've got some mates in jail right? Bagshaw, Rags, and Gobbo?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I visited them with Joey after the wake and told them about your da'. He's currently in the hospital with a smashed in skull. They're not sure if he'll make it or not and the lads were smart enough to bribe some cops to keep it all hush hush about who did it, so they're safe from harm too."

Gareth blinked in surprise at this.

"You…"

"You can thank me by buying me a carton of smokes. King sized Regals if you please."

"I can't believe you did that!"

"What? You mad at me, cousin?"

"No…No, I suppose I'm not. It's weird really…"

"What's weird?"

"I'm not sad that he's probably going to die, even though he's me da'."

Gareth could hear Ferris snort on the other end and he could almost see the blind man shake his head in disbelief.

"He was a right fuck head if you ask me. He deserved worse." Ferris assured him. "Just remember all the shite he did to you, eh?"

"Yeah…I suppose you're right about that."

"Anyway, I've got to get off the line. We're heading back to the funeral home in a bit. See you then, aye?"

"Yeah, I'll be there with Tim."

"Good man. See you then, cousin. Ta!"

Gareth flipped his phone shut and he sighed as he slowly took in all that he had just found out.

His father was never going to be in his life again.

A small smile came to Gareth's lips and he quickly put on his boxers before heading out to tell this to Tim.

"It's about time you woke up. I've been keeping breakfast hot for you!"

Tim was dressed in nothing but his briefs and Gareth smiled as he walked over and hugged him, kissing his lips tenderly.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"An hour." Tim said with a shrug. "I didn't want to wake you up so I just cooked us up some breakfast before we got ready to go back to the wake."

Gareth nodded and he looked over at the offered breakfast; eggs, some strips of bacon, beans, and sliced tomatoes.

"I didn't have all of this." He noted with a frown.

Tim shrugged and kissed him once more.

"I had to go to the market and pick them up for us."

Gareth blushed, and he looked away.

"You didn't have to…"

"Of course I did." Tim snorted, pulling up a stool and pulling Gareth gently down to sit in his lap.

"What kind of lover would I be if I didn't spoil you? And what kind of roommate would I be too?"

"What?" Gareth blinked and looked at him, not understanding.

Tim smiled at him gently and kissed the tip of his nose.

"If you'll let me."

"You…You want to live here with me?"

"What did you think we were going to do?" Tim chuckled.

"I don't know…" Gareth mumbled, looking down at the ground. "I figured you would just visit and…"

"I'm getting tired of being thirty and living with my parents." Tim noted simply and Gareth smiled as he looked up at him once more.

"Yeah?"

Noses lightly brushed up against each other and Tim smiled as he gave the side of Gareth's neck a gentle bite, having learned yesterday that this was one of his weak spots.

Gareth's eyes slowly became glazed over with lust and Tim chuckled softly as he slid a hand down the front of his boxers, taking a firm hold of his new arousal and starting to stroke him.

…

They came to the wake a few hours late and Ferris laughed knowingly, refusing to tell anyone what he found so funny as Gareth gave him his carton of cigarettes.


End file.
